Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer grabbed the national spotlight on CBS’s Sunday morning news program Face the Nation last weekend. In the program, she told host Margaret Brennan her re-election win in 2022 was assisted immeasurably by her unfettered zeal for abortion.
In her interview, she expressed her concern any Republican victory next November could result in a nationwide ban on the procedure.
But, one day later, she told WDIV‘s Will Jones that abortion “is not about politics. It is about fundamental rights” in response to the reporter’s inquiry: “This is good politics for Democrats. Is that another reason” for Democrats’ emphasis on abortion rights in the 2024 campaign season.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
Whitmer told Brennan that she wished President Joe Biden would address the issue more frequently as he seeks reelection to the Oval Office this year.
“I think people want to know that this is a president that is fighting,” she said. “And I think he has said that, to use maybe more- more- you know, blunt language, maybe that would be helpful. But he’s- that’s his position. And that’s why I am absolutely confident that when people see this matchup and really understand the stakes of this upcoming election, that, too, could be a motivator for people to come out and vote.”
Whitmer continued: “I think I have come to the conclusion that a right that was there for almost my whole life, I’m 52, is now very much in jeopardy, and that I’m gonna have to continue to fight to protect this right. The Roe standard was a question about viability, did have, I think, real- made a lot of sense. And- and I think that’s why you see people coming out in states all across America and saying we’re demanding this right. And that should be the standard.”
Brennan responded to Whitmer’s statement that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed his support for a national abortion ban that the Speaker also acknowledged there weren’t enough votes necessary to institute such a ban. Brennan also challenged Whitmer’s assertion that former President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was a supporter of a national abortion ban.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
“Well if we elect a Donald Trump or a Nikki Haley, or a Ron DeSantis, they all have pledged to sign a national abortion ban,” she told Brennan.
Abortion-obsessed @gretchenwhitmer called out after lying about Donald Trump by “Face The Nation” host Margaret Brennan: pic.twitter.com/Tdm3lwvXkL
— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) January 21, 2024
Brennan interrupted: “They haven’t signed, no, Donald Trump hasn’t said what he’s going to do. He just said six weeks is too much for him.”